Portable floor



A ril 29, 1958 H. BINGHAM PORTABLE FLOOR Filed NOV. 28, 1956 Fig.6

.R O T m K M 0 n g B m m H ATTORNEYS United States PORTABLE FLOOR Hiram Bingham, Salem, Conn.

Application November 28, 1956, Serial No. 624,836

1 Claim. (Cl. 20-8) This invention generally relates to a floor for permanent or semi-permanent outdoor or indoor use and more particularly relates to a floor that can be assembled or disassembled in a very short period of time without the necessity for either skilled labor or special tools.

An object of this invention is to provide a floor con struction which can be moved from place to place with a minimum amount of time, labor, and cost. A second object of this invention is to provide a floor construction consisting of a plurality of substantially identical rectangularly shaped wooden boards which can be easily and quickly fastened together to provide a flat floor surface by simply loosening or tightening a few nut and bolt connections.

Another object of this invention is to provide a portable fioor construction suitable for athletic or recretational activities which in its disassembled form consists of a plurality of rectangularly shaped wooden planks which can be easily carried and handled by one person and which have been shaped in such a fashion that a simple adjustment or tightening of several fastening members enables a single workman to unite the plurality of wooden members into a unitary whole.

An additional object of this invention is to provide preformed and preshaped wooden members, which are adapted to receive one or more fastening members in a very simple fashion so as to form a floor construction of any desired area.

Another object of this invention is to provide a portable floor construction which can be used as a bridge or driveway if desired.

Another object of this invention is to provide a floor construction which can be placed upon uneven or earthen surfaces to thereby permit athletic or recreational activities to be carried out on its surface.

Another object of this invention is to provide a fiat floor surface which contains means for draining water or other liquids from the surface thereof.

A final object of this invention is to provide a sub stantially flat floor surface which can be utilized as the base of an enclosed recreational area having side walls consisting of wire fencing or similar material.

Other objects and advantages of the invention will appear from the following description and claim when considered in connection with the accompanying drawings in which- Figure 1 is a perspective view of a floor construction in accordance with this invention;

Figure 2 is a partial end view taken along the lines 2--2 of Figure 1;

Figure 3 is a partial side view taken along lines 3-3 of Figure 1;

Figure 5 is an end view of a floor construction, in accordance with this invention, which includes a drain channel and a side baseboard;

Figures 4, 6, 7, and 8 show specific embodiments of rectangularly-shaped floor members which may be em- 2,832,103 Patented Apr. 29, 1958 ice ployed in building the floor construction in accordance with this invention.

Referring to the drawings in greater detail, and particularly with reference to Figures 1, 2, and 3, it will be seen that the floor construction essentially comprises a plurality of individual rectangularly-shaped board members 2 which are aligned and pressed together in side to side relationship so that their sides and ends are co extensive with each other. Each of these board members 2 contains at least two indentations or grooves, and the innermost curvature of these indentations or grooves is adapted to fit closely around the circumference of a fastening member 4. The fastening member 4 may be in the shape of either a hollow or solid cylindrical or rectangular rod. The ends of fastening members 4 preferably are threaded so that when a nut 6 is threaded thereon and tightened inwardly the plurality of board members 2 which are contained between opposed nuts 6 on the same fastening member will be held together in a very secure fashion. Washers may of course be interposed between the nuts 6 and the adjacent board members.

One can readily see then that by utilizing a plurality of board members 2 having several indentations or grooves disposed along one edge thereof one may readily align the indentations or grooves byplacing the board members in a side by side relationship and when the grooves or indentations are so aligned, it is then only necessary to insert in the aligned row of grooves or indentations a single fastening member 4, and when the fastening member is in place the nuts 6 can be tightened inwardly upon the threaded ends of fastening members 4 to corn press the individual board members together into a unitary whole.

As is shown in Figures 4, 6, 7, and 8, the grooves or indentations in the board members 2 may consist of either intersecting straight lines, curved lines, or a combination of both. In addition, the grooves and indentations in the board members 2 may be placed in only one side; or in only one end; or in both one side and one end; or in both sides and both ends. Although it might be possible to utilize board members having only one groove or indentation therein it is considered necessary and desirable in most instances to have at least two grooves or indentations in the board members. The number of grooves or indentations may of course exceed two depending upon the particular use to which the floor construction is to be put and depending also upon the length and strength of the individual board members. The exact configuration of the grooves and indentations in each board member is not critical insofar as this invention is concerned with the exception that the grooves or indentations must be of such a nature that they will permit an elongated fastening member to be inserted simultaneously into all of the indentations or grooves as opposed to individually and successively engaging an elongated fastening member with the grooves or indentations in an aligned row. By avoiding the necessity of threading the elongated fastening member successively through a plurality of grooves or indentations a great deal of time is saved in assembling and disassembling.

In floor constructions of the type here set forth, it is often a problem to remove water or other liquids from the surface of the floor when the floor is being washed or when rain falls upon the floor. In accordance with this invention, this problem is taken care of by merely engaging one or more washers 8 over the elongated fastening member 4 at spaced intervals so as to thereby leave a small lengthwise slot 14 in the floor which will facilitate water drainage and/or removal.

When the floor construction of this invention is utilized for recreational activities, such as games involving the use of a bouncing ball, it is often desirable that a cage structure be mounted vertically around the perimeter of the floor construction so as to contain the ball within a limited area. This is accomplished inaccordance with the instant invention by providing on the end board members 2 of the floor construction a plurality of spaced support brackets 16) into which can be inserted rods or pipes to support the fencing or Wire mesh on the sides of the recreational area. Other modifications and alternatives which will accomplish essentially the same result will readily suggest themselves to those skilled in the art.

It is often also desirable when the floor construction of this invention is to be utilized for recreational activities involving the use of a bouncing ball to have a baseboard 12 on the sides of the floor area so that a rolling ball will be deflected away from the sides of the enclosure or prevented from rolling off of the floor. This may be easily accomplished, as is shown 'in Figure 5, by including in the floor structure an upstanding board member 12 having a greater vertical height than the other board members but which will have similar grooves and indentations that will permit it to be united in an integral fashion with the other board members in the floor.

It is thus seen that the instant invention provides a floor construction which has great utility and value. It requires components which are very simple in construction and which can be readily assembled and disassembled in v a' very short period of time even by those persons who have had no previous training or instruction.

Iclaim:

A floor construction comprising: (a) a plurality of rectangularly shaped board members each board member having at least two indentations diverging outwardly into its lower face; (b) elongated rod-like fastening means adapted to engage aligned indentations in said board members in a supporting and uniting relationship; (0) said indentations having a configuration which will permit the elongated fastening means to be simultaneously inserted into an aligned row of said indentations; (d) the peripheral portions of said fioor construction containing an upstanding baseboard on at least two sides thereof, said baseboard having a greater height than said board members; and (e) a drain channel adjacent to two sides of said floor construction, said drain channel being formed by spacing washers mounted on said fastening means at points spaced from the baseboard a distance equal to the width of a strip of flooring so that the drain channel is located between the first and second board members closest to the baseboard.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,555,914 Denning Oct. 6, 1925 1,648,431 Warmouth et al. Nov. 8, 1927 2,438,079 Sweet Mar. 16, 1948 

